Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Patricia Smith stood on the stage of the Republican National Convention and emotionally blamed the death of her son in Benghazi, Libya, on Hillary Clinton. Suddenly, Fox News Channel cut away to interview the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

For nearly 11 minutes on Monday night, Trump overshadowed his party’s convention with a telephone interview that provided no major news but allowed him to brag about his primary victories, attack the news media and plug his wife’s upcoming speech.

This was supposed to be the week that Trump finally stopped fighting for the nomination and pivoted to the general-election campaign. This was supposed to be the week that he stayed in the wings, like presumptive nominees usually do, and allowed others to introduce him and explain why he should be president. It was supposed to be the week that Trump showed voters a softer, more personable and compassionate side.

But on the first day of the four-day GOP convention, Trump showed that he’s unable to yield the stage and a prime-time audience to others.

He started the day by calling Fox News Channel to accuse President Obama of using “body language” that encourages racial division and anti-police sentiments that lead to the killing of police officers. For the rest of the day, he boomeranged between the spotlight and the shadows — disappearing for hours, then reemerging with an angry tweet or an unexpected interview. There was even a pre-taped interview that aired on the Golf Channel during the convention.